Delaware & Raritan Canal, New Jersey

Part of the National Recreational Trail System, the 3,785 acre Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park is a 70-mile linear greenway connecting fields and forests and providing a habitat for a wide variety of birds and small animals. The feeder canal was built in 1834 by 4000 Irish immigrants, with picks and shovels, to supply water to the main canal but soon was used for the delivery of freight hauled by teams of mules, and later, steam tugboats. The main canal runs from Trenton to New Brunswick with a break at the Route 1 crossing and the feeder canal park stretches 27 miles along the Delaware River flowing South from Frenchtown to Washington’s crossing, passing along 19th-century stone houses and bridges, locks, cobblestone spillways and arched, stone culverts. The canal is stocked for trout and Lambertville's annual river Shad festival in April is a big attraction.

After weeks of rainy weekends, we headed to Lambertville to enjoy the peak fall foliage which was late this season. We put in at the campground just above the Bull’s Island wing dam and headed for Lambertville, about 10 miles down river. If you’re camping, park at the island’s North end where the feeder canal begins. Otherwise, use the Bull’s Island lots at the canal put-in or at the ramp on the Delaware River below the wing dams.

The river was high after a summer long drought and we didn't see any rocks in this stretch of river past Stockton to Lambertville. The Pac Boat folding canoe was loaded down with extra clothes and gear so it handled very well over the wing dam and through the large, standing waves. North of Stockton, we saw the face of old quarry cliffs and passed to the right of an island to avoid a spillway and then to the left of a larger island to avoid what looked like a dam and easily navigated the rapids making it to Lambertville in an hour and a half. We took the canoe out below the bridge to New Hope, just past the Lambertville Inn where the State Park has a small landing and parking lot. A short distance farther down river, Kayakers like to play in the pools and eddies below the Lambertville wing dam.

After lunch in one of the little town’s many cafes, we scouted the canal looking for an easy place to put in so we could paddle back, up-stream, to our campsite at Bull’s Island. Our best bet was right near the park landing where we had to climb down a wall to get into the canoe. The high water level may have made that a little easier but presented a challenge passing under the first bridge under Lambertville's Bridge street. Laying down in the canoe we slipped under the bridge to the amusement of the folks standing on the bridge, then we paddled 7 miles along the rail trail which used to provide transport to the canal.

There’s a landing and a park just before the Prallsville Mills, a 19th-century complex of grist and linseed oil mills which includes a sawmill (1850), a grain silo (1900) and a railroad trestle (1874). The mills were powered by the Wickecheoke Creek, which fed directly into the canal. Portaging around the lock and spillway (which we saw from the river on our way down to Lambertville) we could continue to Raven’s Rock, the highest elevation on the feeder canal, then portage at the Bull’s Island lock ending up where we started making the trip in about 4 hours since we were going against a fairly strong current from the recent rain.

Plans are underway to purchase one section and gain an easement for another which would extend the Delaware & Marital Canal Park to Milford. When complete, a nice, 2 or 3 day trip would be from Bull’s Island to Washington Crossing on the Delaware then back up the canal through Lambertville, Stockton, Frenchtown and Milford, then Back down to Bull's Island. All are great places to eat, explore or spend the night.